Rio Brand Closes Doors

Castar writes "In a press release today, D&M Holdings announced the end of the Rio brand. Rio had a troubled history, but were responsible for the first mass-market MP3 players as well as more recent popular players such as the Rio Karma. This closing follows the sale of Rio's IP to Sigmatel, maker of chipsets for many audio players, including the iPod Shuffle." From the release: "The company's decision to exit the Rio business followed a determination that the mass-market portable digital audio player market was not a strong enough strategic fit with the company's core and profitable premium consumer electronics brands to warrant additional investment in the category. The original goal of strategic advantage with wholly-owned and branded portable client devices was reconsidered in the context of the costs required to effectively scale and compete in this sector, where competition has grown intense. D&M Holdings will now focus all its resources on the core Premium AV business and advanced content server products."

Comments

Re:Thanks a lot Apple

[robertjw]

I'd rather use a player where I am not limited to closed formats like aac.

Let's not forget paying $60 to replace a battery.

Re:One fan sorry to see them go

[badmammajamma]

"Truth is, Apple simply crushed them with superior development, product and marketing."

I take issue with the "product" part of that sentence. I would put my Karma up against any iPod, any day. The only thing the iPod had over the Karma was looks. In every other way, the Karma is the superior product. Just like Windows, the iPud wins on better marketing and sexier wrapping paper. *sigh*

Anyway, this is sad. I was really hoping for a next gen Karma, mainly for the option of getting a bigger hard drive. 20gig is pretty good but I really need a 40gig. Anyone know of a player that has >20gig of space, plays OGG, FLAC, WMA, and is reasonably compact?

I wonder if these guys feel silly now?

[rjung2k]

"[The Rio Carbon's] got the right attitude, and the right hardware. Apple could learn a thing or two from this media player."
-- Maximum PC

What, like how to suck?

Re:AKA

[IgnoramusMaximus]

Features, add-ons, iTMS, and a elegant experience with iTunes which worked for both Windows and Mac-users (meanwhile Rio acted as if Mac-users were strange secret species) is what made the iPod popular

Here is where we differ significantly as to what MP3 player is supposed to be. I do not want iTunes, iTMS, iCrap and iCorporateTit. MP3 player for me is supposed to be a practical, inexpensive, easy to operate, expandable, low maintenance, long battery life, mechanical shock-immune, no-add-on-software required device which appears as plain USB storage to my PC. Linux, Mac, Windoze, whatever. iPod is not an MP3 player, it is a whole software suite/"way of doing things" which does not appeal to me in the slightest.

ep, all those Lemmings, you're so much better I guess because you are a counter-culture revolutionary.

It is not question of being better, it is a question of having a mass-hyped "trend" smother alternative choices in the marketplace and create a culture of lemming-like conformism and deep dislike for alternatives. Witness the parent of this thread and all the other posts in the vain of "We pwn j00!" as if the Rio vs Apple was some kind of a football match.